


Milkshakes & Memories

by Rakath



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:14:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23098405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rakath/pseuds/Rakath
Summary: Clara and Me investigating why they have to land in Hoboken to get to New York City.
Relationships: Amy Pond/Rory Williams
Kudos: 12





	Milkshakes & Memories

Me and I walked into the diner, no that was not a mistake. Her name is Me. Which, yes, does get confusing now that she’s no longer alone. And it wasn’t our diner. Our diner was parked in Hoboken. That’s in New Jersey. Not nearly as interesting as most of the places I’ve been since I died, “I still can’t believe we had to take a train to get to New York City.”

“Well, it isn’t my fault that the Diner didn’t want to land here, and you wanted to see New York. It isn’t very interesting, occasionally some interesting people live here.”

“Why didn’t it, I’ve never heard her complain so much.”

“Someone created a paradox here, it's like there’s a giant timestorm centered on the Isle of Manhattan,” Me didn’t seem too bothered, like hurricanes of Artron engery just happened. Although, to her, that was probably true.

I took out my compact, not the one for touching up my make-up, the other one. The sonic one. It buzzed faintly as the mirror read out a lot of numbers. Half of them I couldn’t understand, the half I did understand didn’t make any sense. Still it more or less gave me a direction. It pointed me to a booth in the corner.

The gentleman was perfectly reasonable, fairly unremarkable. Remarkably unremarkable if I had to say anything really. Kind but didn’t look like a pushover, pretty but not overwhelmingly handsome. He just… seemed normal.

His lady friend, well, she was another matter. Her mood was obvious, she was bored, and that boredom made her annoyed. Which was adorable. She had deep red hair, a figure that refused to be hidden by her jacket. And she absolutely did not belong here. 

I was also fairly sure I saw her in a modeling advert some century from now.

“Are they it? He doesn’t seem like the type.” I asked.

Me reached into her jacket and pulled out one of her diaries. It’d taken a little over a week to cart them all into the Diner. We had to program a whole wing to the library for them. Even with her spending the past two years at the end of the universe she still found things to write about. This book was about a certain madman and his regular compatriots.

Of course it was organized off of a painfully limited perspective of one linear immortal girl who used to be a viking. So a lot of the information was out of order.

“The two at the booth send these over, with an invitation to ‘stop being freaky watching them and just ask whatever it is you want to ask,” the waitress put down two chocolate milkshakes with whipped cream and straws, then walked off.

I waited to see if Me noticed, nudged her, then headed over to the booth. She’d follow, or I’d find her later. It’ll work out. I was already dead, it simplifies concerns.

I sat down next to the pretty redhead. “So, I guess we weren’t as subtle as we thought we were.”

“No, you weren’t,” The woman said, she smiled with it. As if she liked this idea that something happened. I was simply surprised she was very scottish. Not that that’s impossible in this era of the States. “So what were you wondering?”

Her friend was still looking over at Me, “I swear I’ve seen her before… I can almost pick out when and where.”

“It’s a bit mad, there’s every chance you won’t believe it.” If I was right, they knew the Doctor. And this wouldn’t be mad at all. If I was wrong being locked in a New York madhouse would be decidedly worse than the one time Me and I were burned at the stake as witches.

“I’m sure we’ll be scandalized by whatever it is, more than the two of you staring at us like we’re some sort of zoo animal.”

“I got it,” the man said, snapping his fingers, “French countryside, 1827.”

Okay, they definitely knew the Doctor.

“When were you in the French countryside, where was I?” The woman demanded.

“You were in the Pandorica. This was the other Earth, the one that doesn’t exist anymore.”

“Ohh, right, what was she doing there?”

“I think… she was adventuring to look for the Pandorica. All those memories get a bit fuzzy when I try to look at them. And being here hasn’t made that easier.”

“Right,” I said, because I was feeling ignored, and the two of them were definitely going to keep going if I didn’t stop them. And I didn’t really understand what they were talking about, which annoyed me, “I’m Clara, her name is Me. And we came here to see the sights in New York but had to park our TARDIS in Jersey. Do you happen to know why?”

“Her name is Me?” The man asked. Skipping past all the other things, like everyone did when I had to introduce Me.

“Yes, her name is Me.” I said, I have asked her to change it, she’s changed it before. But she insists it's the easiest way to never forget her name.

“That’s a really stupid name,” while I agreed with the strange woman, I did want to get back on track.

“Not if you’re ‘watched the universe end from her study’ eons old.”

“And you have a TARDIS?” The man asked, thankfully that’ll get on track. “Is it a blue police box.”

“No, that’s his TARDIS. Mine is a retro diner we found in Arizona.”

“A TARDIS you know how to fly?”

“I know how to fly it, she only knows how to crash it.” Me answered, sipping her milkshake.

“One time! And that wasn’t my fault.” I complained. Because it wasn’t, planets normally don’t just appear out of nowhere! They’re big and slow. 

Me ignored me, “You’re Amelia Pond, and Rory Williams. You traveled with the nerdy one, in the bowtie and the fez.”

“Is your daughter always that freaky? How does she know our names?”

I’d lost a bit of focus at their names, otherwise I’d have complained nothing that annoying could ever come out of me. Pond… That word meant something to me. Not Me, or me, some other me. Someone I was, briefly, when I was everywhere. “You were in the Asylum.”

The pair shared a look. They knew what I meant, even if I didn’t say it. Finally Rory stood up, “We need chips, and more milkshakes, if we’re going to do this.”

***

This explained my sad madman, if these two were who came before me. He’d said her name, right before he changed. A lot of things made a little more sense now. We’d moved from talking about madness and the future in public off to their apartment, once there Me took up an armchair and started writing, until she decided she was done with us and went to sleep.

“So… you’re sure you’re trapped here?” I asked, we’d shifted from sweet drinks to alcohol. I probably shouldn’t be drinking, but I shouldn’t be eating either. Not that it’s bad for me, just very wasteful since my body is stasis locked without a heartbeat.

“The TARDIS can’t get us, we have to die here. But we can go to other parts of the States. See the sights, take pictures of important things as they happen for the fun of it,” Amy smiled, curling up with her husband. I couldn’t tell if this was because they were together, or they could just find a way to enjoy even the dullest of lives.

I’d hate it here. I hated taking a train into here.

“So why aren’t you with him? Why are you two traveling in your own TARDIS?”

“He doesn’t know I exist anymore, long story. One of us needed to forget the other. He got lucky on that.”

“Forget each other, that’s a bit much.”

“Yeah, well, he fought so hard to save my life. It was the only way we thought it’d end.”

Amy looked surprised, but then went back to her drink, not asking something I didn’t want to answer anyway. “So, you met River Song?”

“Once, in a dream. She was really bossy.”

“That’s our daughter you’re talking about,” Rory warned, but his smile suggested he was more amused than anything.

I attempted to figure out how that worked, how old they were, how not human River was. And eventually settled in on another detail. And started laughing.

Amy grumbled, “I hate it when they figure out we’re his in-laws.”

I was still laughing, it felt very him he met a twelve year old girl right after regenerating, only to end up married to the girl’s daughter eventually.

“So how did you meet him? The doctor?” Rory asked, trying to get me to stop laughing.

It worked. “Oh, well, I met him when I called for help fixing my computer, and the number I had was for his TARDIS. But I also met him on the Asylum Planet. On Christmas as a barmaid. On Gallifrey when he stole his TARDIS…”

“How do you meet someone four times?” Rory asked. As if it was a question that would have a reasonable or logical answer.

“Oh, no, I met him way more than four times.” I sipped my drink, “The problem is when you spend a few moments as a million people you can’t keep them all in your head. I only get flashes. Like dreams you almost remember.”

I got up, feeling a little bad for Me, mostly because she was quiet. And put a blanket over her. “The human brain can only handle so much before it starts losing things.”

“So… how long are you two going to travel before you go back to where you need to go?”

“Haven’t decided. I can go anywhere, do anything. Provided I don’t get in too much trouble. I think I’m doing Me a favor by being there for her to talk to.” Talk down to, but Clara coulld see a lot of the Doctor in that little girl, and none of the little girl she once knew. “I can come visit again, if you guys take the train out to Hoboken, I’m not doing that again.”

“But that’s such an awful commute.” Amy whined.

“But, if you do it, we can fly off and you can see new places and things.”

They shared a look, ignoring me again. I hated that. I know, they’re married, that’s how married people get to be.

“We’re really happy, staying here.” Rory said.

“It’s boring, but it’s our boring.”

I could almost respect that. I could at least understand it. I’ve been dead for months, I think months, maybe a year? In any event I spent two months on a beach reading and flirting with local people.

Dead girls have desires too.

“Well, we’ll be off in the morning then, I’ll send a letter if I’m ever in this area again, and we can get whatever they drink whenever it is.” I took out my cell phone to read.

“Aren’t you… going to sleep?” Rory asked.

“I’ve tried, you’d think being dead would make sleeping easier.” Stasis locked at the moment before death means I don’t really need to eat, and I can’t sleep. This is part of why I’ve lost track of time. Time is a vitally important thing for the living, especially the living that last only a little time.

When I get back to the whole dying thing, then I get to sleep.

“Well, we’ll be in here sleeping and dying slowly then,” Amy called as she headed off to the bedroom. She dropped her voice for just Rory, but not well enough that I couldn’t hear her, “She’s cute. I expected he’d find another cute girl after me but I didn’t expect her to be that cute.”

I smiled. I was more okay with the fact that my 2,000 year old ex had a past before me. Even if I was still a little bossy. It helped that she thinks I’m cute. I like that.

Maybe taking the train in here won’t be so bad next time.

**Author's Note:**

> I did no research as to when Hoboken first came into being out of sheer laziness.
> 
> Wibbly wobbly timey wimey.


End file.
